Articles of furniture for use in a work environment such as seating systems, including chairs and stools, are used to provide seating surfaces for persons in the work environment.
Seating systems may be configured to promote “dynamic seating” or “postural seating” where the person seated is making weight shifts and balance adjustments while seated in order to maintain a suitable seated position or posture. For example, a large “ball” (e.g. exercise ball) may be used as a seat, particularly in the context of exercise or workout activity; the person as seated on the ball is regularly if not nearly continuously called upon to make minor (and sometimes major) adjustments of balance and shifts of weight to maintain posture and seating position. Such a dynamic seating arrangement will call upon a seated person to continue movement from time to time in order to maintain a suitable seated position or posture; a dynamic seating arrangement may also call upon the person in the seat to use (or use more heavily) muscles that typically are not used (or used heavily) by a person seated in a conventional chair. Dynamic seating arrangements are also believed to provide kinesthetic benefits for certain activities (e.g. learning and education) in addition to physical benefits.
Dynamic seating arrangements such as a “ball” in comparison with a conventional chair may not be conducive to use in an office or work environment (where attention and focus is typically required for tasks instead of posture or position in a seat); such dynamic seating arrangements may be distracting or otherwise not well-suited for a person who is engaged in office work (i.e. knowledge workers) or in collaborative tasks and activities. Such dynamic seating arrangements may also be more difficult to manage and work with in an office or work environment because of their (unconventional) shape and form; similarly such dynamic seating arrangement also may not provide an aesthetic that is well-suited for an office or work environment.